Safety belts in motor vehicles serve as passive restraint elements which are predominantly configured as three-point belts. A belt deflector or guide loop is arranged in the region of the shoulder, over which belt deflector the belt strap is deflected from a retractor which is arranged on the floor side and is guided to a belt buckle which is arranged next to the seat. The end which is remote from the belt retractor is fixed on that side of the vehicle seat which lies opposite the belt buckle. The deflecting device can be fixed rigidly on a structural component, for example a B-pillar.
The fixing usually takes place via a screw connection. The screw connection has the disadvantage that the height of the deflecting point cannot be set to the respective size of the user. If the deflecting point is too high, pressure points can occur in the occupant's neck region, and if the deflecting point is too low, there is no correct guidance of the belt strap over the shoulder of the occupant, with the result that the restraint action may not be optimal.
Height-adjustable belt deflectors are known which are mounted displaceably in a guide rail such that they can be fixed at defined intervals. A locking action is unlatched via an actuating element, the deflector is displaced in the rail and is fixed in the desired position in the latch. In order to facilitate the adjustment, the deflector is assigned a return spring which usually acts counter to the direction of gravity and facilitates pushing upwards of the carriage and therefore of the belt deflector.
It is one stipulation for height adjustment devices that they have to be capable of being arranged on the respective structural component in a manner which is as inconspicuous as possible within an interior trim part. This necessitates that all the components are configured to be of as small a size as possible and there is only a small amount of installation space both for the guide rail and for the components which are arranged in the guide rail. On account of the constricted space conditions, canting of the return spring can occur within the guide rail, which impairs the reliable adjustability of the belt deflector.